


Distant From You...

by The_Great_Jester



Series: A Second Chance (Persona 3 AU) [2]
Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: AU where P3MC didn't pass away, F/M, FEMC is MC's cousin, FEMC's Arcana in this AU is Star, Family Bonding, Fluff, Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort, Regret, Romantic Soulmates, ShuYuka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Great_Jester/pseuds/The_Great_Jester
Summary: During the spring vacations, after defeating Nyx, and meeting Yukari’s mother, Makoto decides to take Yukari meet his uncles and cousin.
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Takeba Yukari, Persona 3 Protagonist/Takeba Yukari, Takeba Yukari/Yuuki Makoto
Series: A Second Chance (Persona 3 AU) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015344
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	Distant From You...

**Author's Note:**

> At long last, after procrastinating (and being bussy with college stuff) for months since the last fanfic I wrote, reading one of the worst fanfics I've ever read encouraged me to write this new piece.
> 
> I hope you folks love it!

Makoto and Yukari were both laid on her bed after spending last night together; the blue haired boy was embracing his lover dearly from her back, while the brunette was holding his hand, not letting him release from that position. Neither wanted this moment to finish, but they had to get up, or else, someone in the dorm would find out what happened last night.

“Hey, Yukari…” Makoto caught her attention.

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me tomorrow.”

“Where?”

“Well I… I want you to meet my uncles and cousin.” He wanted to reciprocate Yukari’s gesture of having him meet her mom, by doing the same with his family; but also, he wanted to come to terms with them for a very long time. And now that their war against Nyx and the Dark Hour was finally over, he knew he had to be ready to face them.

Yukari was silent for a moment, as she thought it was only because she introduced him to her mother a few days ago. But then she saw something in his eyes that gave her the feeling he truly wanted to see his uncles again.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to-“, the blue haired boy tried to interject before the brunette’s cut him off by clashing her lips with his once more.

The couple kept their kiss before the need for breath made them slowly pull away, staring into each other’s eyes. Makoto was surprised by how enthusiastic Yukari was after a minute ago.

“You silly, of course I want to.” Yukari softly said before giving him another kiss in his cheek, which made Makoto feel flustered, but also warm.

“Thank you, Yukari.” The blue boy whispered before trapping the pink girl into another embrace that reminded them how much they have comforted each other through their whole journey together.

* * *

The next day, Makoto and Yukari took a train to Saitama with Mitsuru’s permission to leave. The train was more crowded than usual due to the Spring Break, so Makoto had to stay up for most of the way, but he didn’t mind as Yukari could have a sit for the road.

They went out of the trained once they reached the station and started to idle chat about the weather, the environment and the locals, until the bluenette noticed a flower shop nearby.

“Wait a moment, it won’t be long.” Makoto rushed to talk to the flower shop lady.

“Good afternoon ma’am. May I ask you for an iris please?”

“Of course, young man.” The ma’am took the flower and gave to Makoto. “It’s for your girlfriend over there, isn’t it?” the lady amusedly pointed towards Yukari.

“I-is it that obvious?” the blue haired boy flustered before asking.

“Pretty much, you two look like a pair of happy lovebirds. Not many couples are like that, specially at that young age.”

Makoto couldn’t help but blush like a tomato after hearing those words, but also smiled at the sound of that. “How much is it?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s free”

“But I can’t accept it just like this ma’am.”

“You can, and you will. But if you still want to pay me, then just keep making that girl happy. Understood?” The flower shop lady gazed at him for a few seconds before getting a reply.

“I will, thank you so much.” Makoto was flattered by the lady’s kind gesture.

“Your welcome. Now go with her before I regret this.” She returned the smile in a frightening way.

“Yes ma’am!” The blue haired boy left the shop hastily.

Yukari was sat on a fount watching the water in there, until someone hugged her from behind. She got a bit scared for a second until she realized it was her boyfriend.

“Geez, why did you delay so much?”

“I’m sorry Yukari, I couldn’t resist the chance of giving you something.” Makoto then gave her the flower he bought. “This time it’s an Iris, this one symbolizes hope and faith, as well as passion and purity, like what we feel for each other.”

“You can be quite cheesy sometimes.” She teased.

“Y-you think so?”

“But the flower is still very pretty, so are those words you told me.” She didn’t hesitate to give him a warm hug, despite of being in public. She didn’t care to be seen with the man she loved anymore.

The hug lasted for a few minutes until Makoto heard a familiar voice talking to him.

“Aha, so this is where you were!”

The shocked couple turned their sight towards a cheerful brown-haired girl with red eyes, wearing an orange dress and a barrette shaped like the roman number _XVII_ (17).

“It seems my dear cousin was so busy cuddling with my future sister in law that he forgot he’s a bit late, so dad & mom sent me to search for you.”

“Sister in law?! Isn’t a bit early for that?!” Yukari was blushing at Kotone’s bold statement.

“Don’t mind her, she loves to make jokes like that.” The blue-haired calmed the pink girl down before talking to his mischievous cousin.

“Sorry Kotone, we got kind of wrapped up in the mood.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m still so happy to see you again big bro!” the red-eyed said before lunging towards the stoic boy to hug him.

“Hey! Cut it out! I can barely breath.”

“Ups sorry, Makoto-chan.” Kotone apologized before introducing to Yukari.

“I guess you must be the famous Yukari, aren’t you? My name is Kotone Shiomi! It’s a great pleasure to meet ya!”

“Likewise, I’m glad to meet Makoto’s family”

“Well, in that case let’s go to meet the rest of the family!”

A couple of minutes later, the trio arrived a medium sized house at the middle of a normal neighborhood, with a couple of kind hearted adults waiting for them.

“Mom, dad! Where here!” Kotone shouted.

“We can hear you Kotone-chan. Please don’t shout, or you’ll disturb the neighbors.”

“Upsy daisy. Sorry mom.”

“It’s been a while, uncle Benjiro and aunt Mai. I’m pleased to see you again.”

“Yeah, it’s quite good to have you around again, son. And who’s that girl? Is she the one Kotone talked to us about?” The middle-aged man was curious about the girl accompanying his nephew.

“Oh right. Uncle Benjiro, aunt Mai, this is my girlfriend, Yukari Takeba.”

“I’m so honored to meet you Shiomi-san.” Yukari interjected to greet the couple.

“Oh no, the honor should be our young lady. It took us by surprise when Kotone told us our dear nephew had a girlfriend. It’s quite a pleasant surprise nonetheless.” The aunt said.

Although Yukari knew the middle woman’s commentary wasn’t ill-willed, she noticed something odd in Makoto’s expression, but she preferred to keep it to herself for the time being.

“Why don’t we enter the house? I’m sure we are already hungry.”

“You betcha dad! I’m starving!”

* * *

While the family was enjoying their meal, they started to talk about how things had been for them since Makoto was transferred to Gekkoukan almost a year ago. Of course, the young couple had to omit anything related to the Dark Hour, Personas and Shadows.

“Speaking of which Makoto-chan, Kotone-chan got a scholarship for her excellent grades, and is going to be transferred soon too.” Mai said with a prideful smile for her daughter’s current success.

“Really aunt? That’s great Kotone! Where are you going to transfer?”

“Uhhh, i-it doesn’t matter big bro!” the cheerful girl answered nerviously.

Makoto stayed silent while noticing there was something Kotone was keeping to herself on the matter.

“Say big bro, is Gekkoukan really as good as everyone say?” Kotone asked curiously to the bluenette.

“To be honest, I originally didn’t care about that, but after getting to know Yukari and everyone in the dorm better, as well as some other people there, I started to love that school. Which I honestly never thought would happen.” Makoto answered with an unexpected warm smile in his face that no one in the room, except Yukari expected.

“Hey I just asked you if it was that good. Since when did you got that sentimental, huh?” The red-eyed teased him, while feeling both happiness and unsettledness to see her cousin smile, as if it was the first time she had seen him doing that.

“Yeah, the school is really worth what it costs. The campus is so great and big, it has many clubs, including volleyball, and also most of the teachers are both good in their works and as people.”

“Except Mr. Ekoda. I still can’t forgive him for turning a blind eye to Fuuka’s disappearance. Thank God he just got fired for that.” The brunette interjected.

“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about him. But like you said, in the end he got what he deserved.” The boy answered Yukari before questioning Kotone. “Why did you ask anyway?”

“N-Nothing, just making sure you’re alright. But wow, volleyball? That’s so awesome! I love volleyball!”

“Tell me son, have you already decided what will you do after you finish Highschool? Because if you haven’t, maybe I can give you a job in my business, if you want.” The middle-aged man said.

“Thank you so much uncle, but I think I’ll decline. It’s not that I don’t appreciate your offer, but after everything I’ve went through and learned during this last year, I realized that I must forge my way with my own hands. I plan on going to college and become a teacher that can help others to do the same.”

Both Benjiro and Mai were left perplexed by their nephew’s answer. They were so used to get apathetic answers from him that hearing him say that he was going to be more independent in a confident way, was just so unexpected to them.

“Did I say something wrong?” Makoto tried to break the silence by asking them something which answer he probably already knew.

“No, nothing son. I’m just a little tired.” The middle-aged man smiled at the blue haired young and left the room after everyone finished the dinner.

* * *

After everyone finished their dinner, Makoto and Yukari volunteered to do the dishes despite of Mai’s objection, and did it pretty smoothly.

“Well, it wasn’t that hard. Wanna go to see my room?”

“I’ll catch you in a moment. I’d like to look around a bit more. Go ahead, you must be more tired than me.”

Yukari started to look around the kitchen, and then the lounge until Mai came to see her.

“Wow, are you done already? That was faster than I thought.” The middle-aged woman was mesmerized by that achievement.

“Yeah, we’re actually very used to work together and support each other. Geez, I’m so cheesy.”

“Don’t worry my dear, I think you two actually make a great couple. Even more than people said about Benjiro and me when we were young.”

“Y-You think so ma’am? That’s so flattering.”

“I’m just glad that my nephew is finally happy and has someone to share his happiness with.”

Yukari nodded, before remembering that her boyfriend used to be different from the caring young she fell in love with, but someone apathetic and influenced by his trauma, the trauma of watching his both parents die at first hand.

After looking around a bit more, she found a photo of a black-haired man fishing alongside a little blue haired boy.

“Wait Shiomi-san! Aren’t they?”

“Yes indeed, those two are Makoto-chan and… my brother Masashi.”

Yukari noticed an immense sadness and grief from Mai while she was talking about her late brother, which eventually turned into tears and sobs.

“People use to say that Benjiro and I are the nicest people around here, but I always thought that Masashi and his wife were even more kindhearted than us. Not only he was reliable and supportive to people, but also always found a way to spend time with Yoko and Makoto-chan. Back then my nephew used to be the happiest boy I’ve ever seen, but after he lost his parents, and I lost my brother, he changed… he visited lots of therapists, and all of them said his trauma was beyond anything they had treated before. Everyone said he was like a zombie, and I couldn’t stand that. So, my husband and I decided to take him in and care for him like our own son, that’s the least I could do for my brother. And I failed miserably to make him happy, as he stayed the same for 10 years. I almost lost hope, until one day, Kotone told me about a phone call she had with him, in which she said he sounded different, couldn’t believe it until I saw him today at the dinner.”

“It must have been tough… I’m sorry for what you went through.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he could finally pull through his sadness. I just wish I could have done more to help him. To love him more.” Mai’s eyes were already swollen by all the tears she had shred.

“Shiomi-san… I’m sure Makoto knows how much you love him, and although he hasn’t said it, he truly appreciates what you did for him.” Yukari said with a gently smile on her face.

“What do you mean?”

“When he invited me to come here to meet you, I noticed something at his look, I could see… he truly wanted to come here, and see you all again. I’m sure he loves you; he just doesn’t know how to open up to you yet.”

“Thank you, Yukari-san. I’m glad he has someone caring and lovely like you.” Shiomi’s tears were already wiped out, and her eyes were now filled of hope for the boy she took care for.

“Shiomi-san I’m really flattered; I don’t know what to say.”

“How about you spend some time with Makoto-chan while I ask Kotone to bring the extra futon to her room?”

“Thanks for the chat Shiomi-san.”

“Quite the contrary dear, thank you for listening.”

* * *

Makoto was lying on his old bed in his former room, reflecting the reactions he noticed from Kotone and his uncles towards his new attitude and take on life, which made him realize he used to be even more unfair towards them than he thought.

“How can I make up for everything to them?”

After making himself that question, he suddenly hear someone knocking the door.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Yukari. May I enter?”

“Sure…”

Yukari opened the door, and saw her boyfriend on the bed, and went there to make him company while basketing behind him. She noticed something was puzzling him, and had a feeling what would it be.

“So, you’d like to tell me what happened?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure I truly want to, but I know it would be foolish trying to fool you, and you’re so stubborn to be avoided so easily.”

“Well, that’s what happens when your girlfriend loves you so much that she knows you quite well, and isn’t willing to give up on you.”

“True enough” Both chuckled a bit, before Makoto started talking. “Remember when we just met? How we didn’t get along well because of how I used to be back then?”

“Yes, I do…”

“Imagine having to endure that attitude for around ten years. No matter how well they treated me, no matter how much they took care for me, no matter how much they loved me. Nothing changed, and for almost ten years I kept acting like an apathetic selfish prick.”

The blue-haired boy began to cry, pressing is palms on his face.

“And now, I don’t know how to patch things up with them. I don’t know how to show them the appreciation I have owed them all this time, or how to apologize to them.”

“Makoto…” the brunette said while caressing the grey-eyed’s cheek. “You don’t need to prove them anything, they already knew what you went through. I mean, it’s not easy losing a friend, your uncles, a brother, let alone your parents. And they took care of you not because they expected any kind of gratitude, but because they love you and want you to be happy.”

Makoto looked at Yukari’s teary eyes, and hugged her pressing his face on her shoulder.

“But, if you still feel the need to apologize, just tell them you’re sorry, plain and simple. They are already joyed by watching you being happy, so I’m sure a simple apology will be more than enough.”

“Yukari… thank you, for everything.”

“What are lovers for, if not to support each other, after all?”

“My love…” Makoto whispered her before pressing his lips on hers.

Meanwhile, outside of the room, Kotone was lying on the floor, crying after she overheard the couple’s conversation. Despite of how frustrating it was sometimes for her to deal with his apathy, she knew how much her cousin went through when he lost his parents, and so she never gave up on treating him like a brother. Kotone was already glad to see Makoto moving on from his traumas, but now she was overjoyed by knowing he indeed loves her and his uncles, but also felt sad for the blue-haired boy’s regretless.

“You’re so silly Makoto… There’s nothing to forgive…”

* * *

After spending the night and next day’s morning at the Shiomi’s house, the couple was ready to leave back to Port Island.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay another day?” Mai asked.

“We’d love to Shiomi-san, but we only got permission to spend one day here.” Yukari replied.

“If that’s the case, there’s always next time. You two take care.” Benjiro said.

“See you soon.” Kotone followed up.

“Sure, you all take care too.” The pink girl said while she and Makoto turned around about to leave, until the blue-haired boy suddenly stopped walking.

“Uncle, aunt, Kotone… I…”

“What is it son?” the middle-aged man asked.

“I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry for Makoto-chan?” the ma’am asked.

“For everything… for not caring about you, for treating you three like strangers all these years despite of all the love you gave me… I just… forgive me…” A great sob escaped him, while he covered his face with shaking hands.

“Makoto, you’re so silly.” Kotone answered while approaching him with her face covered by tears. “We know what you’ve been through, we know that the suffering of watching both of your parents die was something beyond us. Of course, we were sad of losing my uncles, but also because you never stopped enduring that burden on your shoulders, and even worse that we couldn’t do anything to help you. But there’s nothing should apologize for, the only thing that matters is that you finally found your own path.” The dazzling girl started hugging her cousin while pressing her face on his shoulder.

“Thank you Kotone.” Makoto said before returning the hug. “I love you, little sister…”

“Hey! I’m just a few months younger than you.” The red-eyed girl pouted.

Benjiro and Mai, touched by Makoto and Kotone’s words, joined in their hug, and the four stayed still for a minute, while Yukari was crying by watching her lover being happy with his family.

“There’s something I have to tell you Makoto.”

“What’s up Kotone?”

“I got a scholarship for Gekkoukan High.”

“What?”

“I wanted to spend time with you more frequently, so I studied so hard and passed the test to make it. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid that would have upset you.”

“By no means, I’m actually happy for you Kotone. Now that you mention it, I’d like you to meet my friends.”

“Speaking of which, do you know any place where I can stay?”

After thinking for a moment, Makoto finally made his mind up. “I’ll talk to Mitsuru-senpai so she can allow you to stay with us.” He said it with a gentle smile on his face.

“Makoto, we have to go now, or else we’ll never hear the end of senpai’s lecturing,” Yukari said.

“I’ll see you soon, little sis”

“Right back at ya, big bro.”

* * *

The next day at Iwatodai's Dorms…

“Senpai, I need to speak with you,” Makoto approached Mitsuru.

“Yuki, I thought you were going hang out with Yukari and Iori.” The red-haired woman said surprised.

“I will, but first, there’s something I have to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I’m sure you know from my records that I have a cousin named Kotone.”

“I do, what is up with that?”

“She’s going to transfer to Gekkoukan due to a scholarship. Because of that, she’s going to move to Port Island, and she need a place to stay.”

“And so, you’re asking me to allow her stay with us in the new dorms, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you know that everyone in SEES has become a family to me, but Kotone is also my family, and I promised to help her with that. That’s why I’m willing to do anything you’ll ask me in exchange.”

After looking at his grey eyes, the former student council president knew his heart was made up. “Fine, your cousin can move with us at the end of this month, on one condition.”

“Which condition, senpai?”

“Once your senior year starts, you’re going to promote yourself as the next student council president, and accept the charge if you get elected.”

Usually Makoto would see it as a hassle, but after performing as SEES’ field leader for a year, being saved by Ryoji from having to pay a much higher price and knowing this was to help Kotone, it wasn’t something steep to him. “Very well, it’s a deal senpai. Thank you so much for accepting. I’m sure she’ll get along just well with everyone.”

“I’m also glad I can entrust the Student Council to my most reliable friend. And I’m definitely looking forward to meet her.”

Makoto’s phone rang before he watched a text message from Yukari, _“What are you doing sleepyhead? Junpei, Fuuka, Ken-kun, Aigis and I are already at the Bowls. Hurry up or else we’ll start without you. Love you.”_

“Gotta run. Good day, senpai.” Makoto took his leave, running as fast as he could, before marking a phone number.

“Hi Kotone. I talked to senpai, and you’re in. Would you come here on March 31st to meet everyone?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you reach this point, then it means you liked it. You can't fool me (joke).
> 
> Look forward to the remakes of my earlier fanfics, as well as other new projects I might start.
> 
> Take care, and Happy Birthday Yukari.


End file.
